EXP Evaluation

Critical analysis:

How does my work fit into the music industry?

My work specifically fits into the music industry as an Album (It was an EP at the beginning but it increased over time) to be distributed through the online platforms such as Youtube, Soundcloud, Spotify, Itunes, Apple music, Idol, Amazon, Google Play, Instagram, Facebook and etcetera. The reason why I am saying that my music is a material to be distributed is because my music has been composed, produced and arranged to be commercial, as well as it contains current mainstream vibes (what people is listening to actually), that can influence very effectively the Latin music industry as today it has a very wide and international impact.

My focus is to compose and produce music, mainly more aimed to transmit the Latin vibes which encourage my background as a south-American citizen who really enjoys the reggaeton, Latin-pop, salsa, bachata and etcetera. Besides, the collaborations approached along my way in this career will help me to get the needed connections to reach more popularity and to move more smartly through this industry of mainstream-ranking and point of focus.

Am I satisfied with my work in comparison to professional work?

Honestly, I am really proud and satisfied with the work that I have been doing during these weeks, despite my personal life issues that were holding me back to keep advancing. However, my work compared to professional work is really good because I have composed, produced and distributed four of my thirteen songs from the album through the online platforms which have had a good acceptation by the audience since the day that I started to release one by one. Also, I have published my first music video on Youtube which now has about five thousand and two hundred views which for me is a good result of starting to get an audience and subscribers. To film a music video is not an easy task as it has to be a good quality-creative material to be shared online for professional purposes and mainly to try to fit remarkably into the music industry.

I might say that the professional work that is out there on the internet and youtube has more interaction by the audience, principally because the team that is working out there make that their material become really viral and seen by more people by the promotion of it and the constant social media sharing. I really feel that my work has a good level to start with and that the constant effort to make this happen has been the main key for supporting my EXP and my personal music career as a solo artist/producer/composer.

Also, on my research for trying to meet new people to collab with or trying to meet good producers to help me with my project out of college involved so much that I did not imagine that I would count with all what happened after. Over the time that I was making music more people were interested in collaborating with me and even promoters of events invited me to sing in live performances which compared to the professional environment there is not so much difference because out of college the way as an artist works and develop their music career is through the social relationships and contacts that push them to stand out.

What areas have you still struggle with?

I hardly struggle with the theoretical research because, from my point of view, I like to create and to develop my ideas from my own inspirations, vibes and initiatives. I rarely research about Latin music influence and reports about it, or maybe watching documentaries about artists. So, when I have to do theoretical research is quite annoying because I do not like to invest my time doing that instead of making music all the time.

I am not saying that to do a literature review and to value the theory that encourages a topic is not important, because it is. But, my main focus was to create an album and to do it focus on my own inspiration and personal life experiences.

Also, I still have some difficulties when I mixdown a track, sometimes I just need to use a reference to listen to clearer the sounds that I am mixing. But, I have to be conscious that I will get better skills with the time that I get more experience doing this.

In addition, I have had very hard problems with my speech, I honestly have difficulty trying to describe my ideas clearly and appropriately.

Is there anything you wish you could change about your work?

I would change my academic research because I honestly did not do in deep an academic study about my project, I really needed to do more academic research. Also, I could have approached more people through a survey about my music which  I supposed to do but I did not.

With hindsight, what would you do differently?

I would organise my time better, I think that I did not take enough advantage of my time during the FMP from the last year and the EXP of this year too to be more efficient. It is very frustrating to see that because I know that I can do things faster and more creative.

Research:

What were your key areas of research?

Being the development of an academic project, I decided to take it very personally as the beginning of my own life project for my music career too. First, I had to start finding my own identity, who I am.

One of the key areas was to start looking for my artistic name and my logo, so I might say that my name came up from my classmates who suggested me the name as I wanted to be 'J4' but when they pronounced it, it sounded more like 'Jayffo', so I decided to leave it exactly like that.

To start recording music in a studio outside the college such as Sensible studios around King's Cross was the main key area of research because in that studio I learnt so much about the use of Logic Pro X from my producer Dukus and to enhance more the recognition and acceptation of my own voice as well as my confidence for singing. To be working there on my songs through these weeks helped me so much to improve my identity as 'Jayffo' and to motivate me to explore more my inspirations and ideas.

Also, in that studio a met the promoter of reggaeton events in London who is also an artist called 'Guerrero music'. In that occasion, I was recording one of my songs of this Album ' Mirala' and once he arrived at the studio he listened my material and he got the interest in offering me a place for one of his new events called 'Reggaeton live'. In that event, I sang two songs of my EP and the reaction of people in that event was very impressive, positive and motivating. 

In my opinion, I think that my principal source to get to the key areas of research was to be more social and to know more people who today have been more engaged in my music career as Jayffo. So, to dare to know more people from your own interests and to face your fears of being on the stage showing what you are made of is the main point to start with if you would like to know the type of artist that you are and who the people see.

Apart from that, rehearsing alone and producing at home was also the major part of this project because, despite my personal life issues that I lived through the construction of this work, I really developed my ideas alone and the inspirations for my songs thinking about the experience that I have lived in my life. So, to feel free to express what I wanted to express and to compose the music that I wanted to sound like was also a way for feeling an "Academic freedom" to completely explore my ideas and to start constructing better each infrastructure of this Album.

The advice from Grant's lessons about mixing and warming up your ears before mixing to avoid damage by listening to loud stuff was also really good information to use when I was trying to mix alone.

More than doing academic research, I based more on my project in doing practical and experimental research to create fresh material based on my research for finding my artistic identity and own acceptation.

What research methods did you apply?

I applied some research not exactly doing interviews but I was always asking to my producer and the promoter Guerrero how to improve my musical career and also with my producer about how to sound better and how to approach more original content which helps me to be more unique and visible for the music industry which is always evolving.

However, to have been doing more practical research than theoretical gave me the chance to do research about arranging my first video recording, how to perform in front of the camera, how to attend to interviews in tv channels, branding, how to make my logo, distribution of my music, arranging my own performances in small venues and doing music collaborations.

Have you been able to synthesise your research into your work?  

My work is specifically based on my practical research which means that my research encourages all of that, so I can say surely that my research is all synthesised with my work because it contains all the process of the development for the creation of my album through these weeks.

Do you feel that you completed sufficient research? were there areas that you under-researched? did you complete irrelevant research, or unnecessarily researched in too much detail?

Honestly, I feel that I have not done enough research principally because I have not researched all the trajectory of the Latin urban genre and the main roots of it. Also, the urban genre as the mainstream into the music industry that nowadays is so huge, wide and powerful globally. I should have researched more about the topic of my project about how to become an artist and how to find my own identity and all of that is very detailed academic research.

I did not think that I have done irrelevant research about my project because everything on it is part of it as I really wanted to be like. I think that the flow that was brought to this project from people who I never thought that could be included in this is very positive and unique for me at this stage of the beginning of my musical career.

In hindsight, are there other topics you should have researched? why did not you consider these areas at the proposal stage of the project?

In detailed, I should have researched more about Latin music history, musical components of it, roots of reggaeton and Latin-pop music, how to use illustrator properly, how to edit videos professionally, the use of moods to create music, phycological studies about the music affecting the human brain behaviour and performance.

Also, I should have done more studies  (I have done some research but not in deep detail)  about how to make marketing, how to be up-to-date with fashion and how to manage my social media professionally.

What have you learnt that you can apply to your future career?

I have learnt how to contact the right people for the right purpose when I have to do recording sessions, how to arrange a video film session, how to communicate wider with people through my social media, how to mixdown better my tracks, how to listen to myself for an improvement on my pitch and tone, how to create my own environment of work in my everyday life doing what I love to do, how to invest in my own project by working hard and saving money, creating my own brand and Logo, to know more about myself facing my fears , daring to do what I have not done before as an artist, to do research about my own interest giving importance to academic information to complement my work and to believe more on myself.

All of this is very important to apply for my future career because all of that is what I need to apply when I have to work in the music industry mainly if I am going to be working as an artist/singer/producer.

Technical/Practical Skills

How did your research inform your practical work?

For example, to be in the studio with my producer, one guitar player and two more colleagues were a point of research because each of them was giving me their point of view about my songs and also what I should have changed to make them better. So, the opinion gave me enough information to use it in my practical work when I was recording the vocals which I took in account what they told and I put it on practice in my recordings to sound confident and good.

Another example is that I researched the types of microphones for studios and I watched some videos about their use and their quality of sound  and for one song of my album which is Ballad-pop I preferred to use an NT1-A RODE Cardioid for  this song as It sounds more bright, natural and condensed than the other mic Sony C-800G that I have been using for my other songs. So, in this type of information really worked to do some research to know more about the equipment that I was using.

What skills (new and existing) have you developed in order to complete your project?

During the process of making this project, I have enhanced my singing, my guitarist skills and my production skills. Definitely, my way of singing has reached a higher level in terms of recognising my range and the tone that I should use for my songs apart from feeling more comfortable. Also in my production skills, I have improved my methods of making music, specifically in the arranging of the instruments that I should use for the type of music that I made which is Latin music. The domination of levels to ubicate the instruments in the right place by good planning and automation, as well as the advantage of going in deeper detail about the use of plug-ins and their purpose. To learn how to use the plug-ins as tools to organise the sound of my music was also a skill that I have been improving through my practical orientation and learning.

I would say that the skills that I have developed as new ones through this project are that I have learnt about how to act in front of the camera for the recording of my music video for 'Escultura', how to use more efficiently the program of Final cut pro for the editing of my background visuals for my final performance, to have in consideration to start wearing more clothes with my logo (it is nor like a skill necessarily but it is a factor that I have to start to be doing as Jayffo mainly in my live performances), to use automation in logic more creatively to make sound effect which I never had done before especially with the synthesisers and to demonstrate to myself that I can like my voice through my music which was a problem that I had of acceptation and that is why I was not singing very comfortably.

Do you feel your practical skills have developed sufficiently during the course of the project, or are there areas where you still struggle?

I consider that my practical skills have been developed to be in a higher level of confidence and Identity in terms of that now I know what I want to do in the music industry as Jayffo and that I know now how to start creating my own brand as a solo artist who produces his music given to his practical research and learning. However, I think that I can do it so much better with the pass of the time, but definitely to be in this course helped me so much to enhance my ideas and to start to project them through the use of software and to have taken advantage of the good facilities of the college. 

On the other hand, I would rather to have developed more in detail my piano playing skills, maybe because I did not try to start learning more about piano techniques and exercises but I definitely taught myself how to play the piano since year one, so I am proud for that but I could have done a better function with this instrument as well as my guitar playing skills which I have not improved so much to be playing this instrument since a long time ago. But there is so much time ahead to improve to become a better guitarist in the level that I personally would like to be with my experience.

I still struggle so much trying to do academic research as my own criteria for making music is more personal and like more to follow my instincts about how it should sound like. However, I have to keep reading more about music and its evolving, it is always very important to have present that the academic content has interesting information that might help me with the development of my ideas from now to my future.

How did you develop this practical skills?

These practical skills were developed by my own practice and interaction with the programmes of software such as logic pro, final cut pro, Splice and illustrator. But I have to highlight that the use of the programme of logic was more developed by learning of the advice from my tutors and the lessons from the first year which helped so much.

Also, on my own rehearsals inside the rehearsal rooms or at home also helped me so much to enhance my confidence. Even, the use of the software at home on my own time also was a great factor to improve my production skills which were accompanied by tutorials of youtube and the feedback from my producer Dukus who was always trying to help me to learn more about new plug-ins and their importance in my music.

I am not going to lie about the fact that singing all the time even when I was taking a shower was step by step getting stronger my vocal cords as same as my breathing to have better control of my voice and to have a closer relationship with it.

But most of my skills developed in this project were from interacting with my interests which were to learn more in detail how to use the programmes and how to do what I wanted to do with them. Also, to try to project what I wanted to project which obligated me to be more creative and to understand more the logic of how to work in my music functions.

Presenting your work:

How did you choose to present your work to the public?

First I started to publish my songs (not all the album as a whole release just I released some of the songs from my album) at all the online platforms such as Amazon, Google Play, Spotify, Apple music, Itunes, Shazam, Youtube, Claro music, Idol, Deezer, Soundcloud and also on my social media such as Instagram and Facebook. After, I did some performances in some events such as 'Reggaeton Live', 'Climax Uk' and my last performance at college.

Why was this your chosen method of presentation? How does this method relate to your audience?

I have chosen to publish some of the songs of my Album in Social media, online music platforms and online music stores to start to show to people the content of my music which relates so much with my personal musical development as Jayffo who is finding his identity through his music.

Also, I wanted that the people/audience/public started to know me in and out of London, trying to take more my music internationally. Besides, my performances in the events where I was invited to sing were a good chance to find out how people would react to my songs. I personally mean that the experience was unforgettable because people's reaction was so positive and as part of my research I achieved what I wanted to do which was to give a good performance and to show that I have good material to compete in this world of the music industry. So, I took advantage of the internet facilities and the live performances chances to show my work for the reason that all is linked, if people can find on social media, they can listen to my content and if they can watch me in live performances they can start to like my music or they might not, the point is starting to walk from zero to one and do not stay on zero.

Compare your presentation method to the music industry practice. Provide evidence of your research. Explain why your method of presentation is relevant in the modern music industry.


My method of presentation compared to the music industry practice is very similar as currently the big artists signed for the big companies of record labels such as Sony music entertainment, universal music, Industria Inc and etc, all of those companies have artists who are presented in live performances of huge concerts as also they are viral in all the online music platform and stores. Their representation becomes powerful and very influent in this media of the music industry because their methods aim to make their artists viral by all the social media and music stores.

So looking at my method of publishing my music in social media, online platforms of music and music stores plus my live performances where I interacted closely with the audience means that I am not so far from doing things similar to the current method of work of the music industry companies that now are top on this industry. Also, I have been investing in the promotion of my posts on youtube and social media to gain an audience and range of expansion through my post's promotion.

Another method compared to the music industry practice was to arrange a music video recording with a model and clothing containing my logo and all that stuff. It was a very important thing to do because currently most of the artist now present their music accompanied by a music video which projects more impact on the audience as it is more striking.

In resume, my use of all the facilities that now the internet, technology and modern system of the music industry presentation provide, it is more reachable to get inside the music industry media. Also to start investing in my own work and trying to start making collaborations is also a principal factor that helps me to get closer to be practising as I am now inside the music industry which I think that from now even if I am now my only record label. 

Here I have attached the screenshots of Youtube and my Instagram plus some pictures and videos from my live performances as evidence:

Has your method of presentation been successful in reaching your target audience?

Yes, definitely I was trying to reach an audience on youtube of a minimum of two thousand views and it really was the case that I have more than that in my recent video of 'Escultura'. I am really happy to see that maybe not in the online music platforms I have not so much audience, but in my social media and Youtube, I really have a good audience waiting for me to come up with more material.

Project Management:

Do you think that you successfully managed all the different aspects involved in the completion of your EXP? Explain.

I successfully managed the development of my practical skills and the composition, production and release of my songs for this project. However, I would say that I could not manage my time to do enough research about my topic of becoming an artist and all the documentation about Latin music.

Also, I have struggled so much with the submitting of the weekly reports because I have had so many personal issues from my jobs and life outside the college which was the principal reason for my delays of putting my weekly reports rightly.

What has been the biggest challenge when planning and completing your EXP?

The management of the time and the arrangement of trying to compose and produce a song weekly. Apart from that when I planning how to develop this project I was planning to do a project based on modes and Phycological research. However, I managed how to keep moving forward with my ideas despite the tragedies that were happening in my personal life.

On top of that, trying to organise the time with the people who I was doing collaborations with. Which definitely was an annoying task because some people were not available all the time to arrange recording sessions, so I had to re-arrange my timeline. 

Has anything happened which has caused you to divert from your initial plan?

Yes, when I was planning my research about modes and phycological material based on music thesis and all that stuff. I just realised that I was not able to analyse every single track that I was making based on modes. I think that I really struggled with trying to do that, and even I did not ask for advice to my tutors. I thought that I had to continue just producing my songs and to complete the album.

How have you worked with your classmates during the project?

During my project, I have not collaborated with anyone. I decided to take my project very individually, maybe I just asked for some advice from my classmates in terms of the writing or the structure of my blogs.

How did you make use of the access time that was available?

Weekly, I used to book the production room number three on Wednesdays and Thursdays to keep completing the mixing of my songs. However, most of the time, I took my free time at home to write my weekly report and to upload all the evidence from the recording sessions and performances.

I was committed to recording one song every week to complete the album at the end of twelve or thirteen weeks of work. Even, that is the reason why I could not complete all research of sources of information to complement all my investigation in deep for the project. However, I really felt the need for just taking advantage of the time to compose, to produce and to mix all the songs of the album through these weeks.

Did you organise use of any external facilities? How and why?

Most of the weeks, I was booking the recording sessions at Sensible Studios in King's Cross around the college with my producer Dukus. The reason is that he was recommended by one of my classmates who released some songs with him by his help with the production of instrumentals, mixing and mastering. The songs 'Mirala', 'Escultura', 'Bailame', 'Nueve Letras', ' Dame Una llamada', 'Me gustas tanto' and 'Salvaje' were recorded in that Studio and professionally mastered and mixed by Dukus. All the production, first mixing and composition of all these songs were made by me, but after arranging the recording sessions all was made by the producer Dukus.

Also, I have had to book a recording session with a video producer and a cameraman from a company called BM Visuals which were recommended by external friends from college who made videos with them before. So for the releasing of the song 'Escultura', I had to arrange the video recording session outside the college at Hampstead Hill garden and pergola which was the place where I recorded my video 'Escultura'.

Have you completed all the work you intended to do for this project? If not, why not?

I have completed successfully the composition and production for all the songs of my project at the exception that sometimes I just recorded some songs at college and some at Sensible studios. However, if I talk about the whole structure of the project I could have enhanced a better quality of the information included in the project because I did not make good academic research for investing more my time composing and producing the instrumental at home, sensible studios or the production rooms from college. But anyway the most important for me was to complete the creation of the product which as an Album of at least thirteen songs called 'Teenagers feelings' which is the topic all the way through every composition encompassing sadness, happiness, hate, romance and all most of feelings that I was looking for.

Problem Solving:

What practical/Technical/organisational problems have you encountered during your EXP? How did you overcome these problems? provide examples.

I had some technical problems with my MacBook because I run out of memory so many times and I could not upload the updates of my files of logic. So, sometimes I lost the production work of some days, but this was an advantage in cases where I had to obligate myself to remake sounds and instrumental which sounded better than the previous ones. It was luck I might say, but I could find a solution by remaking melodies and finding good motivation plus inspiration to make them.

Also, I had organisational problems because I did count with the tragedy of losing one of the members of my family who dies horribly and I almost could retake my studies for more than a week given to her disappearance and uncertainty. So the only way I found to continue morally was to create a song for her funeral and sending it to Colombia. The only solution was to think about what my project was important and that I had to reorganise myself to make an effort, However, this song is part of the project and I called ' I won't forget you'.  

What theoretical problems have you encountered during your EXP? How did you overcome these problems? provide examples.

At the last minute before than just three days of the deadline for the submitting of all the work, I received a good feedback from my tutors who recommended me to do a good research about the topic that I managed during the creation of my brand, my logo, my performances, my video and all those aspects that covered my project and that I could talk about in my research and my literature review. Also, most of my research was practical so I tried to talk in detail about all the process for creating my songs and the production of them which specifically took every week work. So in the end, I made a research about marketing, theoretical Latin music analytics and all these content that could have helped me before. I know that was too late to make academic research but I could manage with doing it and completing the tasks. 

Are there any key concepts, techniques, ideas, etc. that you have developed since the start of the project?

Yes, the concepts of commitment and responsibility were the main keys that since the beginning helped me to keep the focus on creating my album and keep composing all the time. The fear of failing and do not try to make my best to accomplish my ambitions through this project to get a good mark the end and the self-satisfaction of working hard. 

Also, the production techniques of using lopping and sampling were the main keys of my compositions because it helped me to get the flow and the vibes that I wanted to transmit through the use of Splice.

On top of that my ideas were developed by the confidence, I was getting every week with every composition. the more that I was recording, composing and producing, the faster that I was getting done every track and collaboration.

Conclusion

To conclude, the journey through the development of this project matches the first and second year of learning, feedback and comprehension of my skills. I could understand through this project that my ideas can be fully projected in real life to fit into the music industry and that I enhanced my musicianship by defining my objectives of being a producer, composer and brand of my music. In addition that I can fully responsible for the progress that I could make during the releasing of this project and my professional projection in the future.

The influence of this project to understand my musicianship was huge, deep, sensitive and inspiring. U have got motivation and determination to extend this project in my real life for keeping my process of becoming a recognized artist for having unique originality and influence through my lyrics and my musical ideas in the production of my instrumentals.

I found my project successful because I took a long way to learn, to understand, to enhance and to accept the knowledge of these two years of course where I had to face my own doubts and insecurities as a challenge to become better every day. In my own perspective, I see that to make tangible my music through an unknown software that I learned to use without any knowledge at the beginning of the course and now just using it as a part of my body and my musicianship make me feel very proud of the process of taking an album as the target of my project or mainly the EXP.